We sat down with Ned Campbell ahead of Beats arriving back in London at the Kings Head Theatre from 18-27th April, after a sell-out performance in February. Ned Campbell stars in and directs this London remount of award-winning Scottish playwright Kieran Hurley’s Beats.
Tell us about Beats?
BEATS… Gosh it’s hard to sum it up in a few words but essentially it is a story about the irresistible and magnetic power of gathered youth coming together and dismantling the restrictions of civil liberties that had been put in place at that time. It is a pulsating culmination of words and music that centres around a teenage boy desperately trying to figure out and understand his own existence at a definitive time of despair and oppression that Scotland and working class communities were facing..
As a performer and director – what drew you to this play?
EVERYTHING…. I read the piece and quite simply fell in love with it all. Kieran’s writing is pure genius and just captures a whole world in which I knew I had to explore. From the music to the beautiful almost poetic lyricism I was desperate to jump right in and bring something different and original for audiences to enjoy.
Do you think the themes of youth and protest still resonate today?
Absolutely. We live in a world bound by social structure and rules and confinement especially when it comes to moulding young lives through both schooling and society. BEATS just hits that wall head on and creates this quite controversial and jarring world of youthful rebellion and impulse. Not only does it explore the power of mass gathering but also this escaping euphoria of possibility and potential.
You’ve had sell-out performances already – how does it feel to have a longer run at King’s Head Theatre?
Terrifying… but also a dream come true… There is still so much more I want to do with the show from both a performance and visual perspective so to be given this opportunity is just fabulous. Every time I read it I learn something new and I am hoping with this run I can bring an experience to audiences that they have never seen before.
Tell us about the music in the show – what does that add?
The constant pulsating beat that my phenomenally brilliant DJ Tom Snell provides throughout the show is what pieces everything together in my eyes. It’s fair to say we really put the audience through it by transforming them right into the world of 90s rave culture. I have always been completely hypnotised by the offering of live music in performance, so working with Tom on this two-handed dual has been really quite special. I want the audience to experience BEATS as this unique immersive event where they can just forget everything going on in their life and quite simply absorb something which I hope to be really special.